1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of computers and, more particularly to an operating system (OS) multi boot integrator.
2. Description of the Related Art
The use of computers, especially the personal computer (PC) has become widespread. The computing power of the PC, whether coupled to a network or operating as a stand-alone device, has increased significantly with the development of new computer architectures. Newer operating systems (OS) have been developed to take advantage of the ever increasing computing power.
A computer operating system is a collection of software programs which control the execution of application programs running on the computer. Typically, an operating system manages the interaction of the computer hardware and software running on the computer by providing services to the software applications such as resource allocation, scheduling of tasks, data management and input and output (I/O) control. The loading of an operating system into the computer's memory is known as "booting" the OS. The reloading of an operating system (typically performed after resetting the computer) is known as "rebooting" the OS.
A computer user is free to purchase and install an operating system that differs from the one installed on the computer when it was purchased. Today, there are numerous commercially available operating systems to choose from including, but not limited, to MS-DOS, UNIX, LINUX, OS/2, WINDOWS 3.x, WINDOWS NT, and WINDOWS 95.
Although these operating systems perform similar tasks, and many are capable of running the same application programs, each operating system has its own strengths. Sometimes a user wishing to capitalize on the strengths of these operating systems will install more than one OS on the same computer. Commercially available software utilities aid a user in installing additional operating systems on their computers. These utilities also allow a user to choose which operating system to boot while a computer is being powered-on or reset. The capability to boot different operating systems on the same computer is often referred to as an OS multi boot or multi booting.
Having more than one operating system on the same computer is not without its problems. One problem arises when a user installs an application program, such as, for example, a "browser" for the INTERNET, on a PC operating with a first operating system (OS #1). The user sets up communication and user settings for the browser, uses the browser and saves a few bookmarks for interesting sites found while browsing the INTERNET. The user subsequently boots his computer with a second operating system (OS #2), but cannot use the browser since it was installed for OS #1. The user would have to re-install the browser for OS #2 and then set up the communication and user settings for the newly installed browser. The bookmarks for the browser installed for OS #2 would have to be updated to include the bookmarks saved for OS #1.
If the user operates the browser installed for OS #2, and modifies any settings or bookmarks, then the user would have to boot the computer in OS #1 and manually update the browser's settings and bookmarks to keep the browsers settings consistent between OS #1 and OS #2. This takes time and can lead to mistakes particularly for applications which are far more complicated than a browser. More complicated applications, for example, may be too difficult for a user to integrate in an OS multi boot environment. Accordingly, there is a desire and need to automatically integrate application programs and their settings between multiple operating systems installed in an OS multi boot environment.
Similar problems arise when a user attempts to coordinate the user interface, settings and preferences of the multiple installed operating systems. Any setting that were changed for OS #1 would have to be manually changed for OS #2 (after a reboot). Likewise, settings that were changed for OS #2 would have to be manually changed for OS #1 (after a reboot). This also takes time and may lead to mistakes particularly for a user unfamiliar with computers. Accordingly, there is a desire and need to automatically integrate the settings and preferences of multiple operating systems installed in an OS multi boot environment.